In snowmobiles, the muffler has conventionally been placed to the right side of the engine. Although this position allows the muffler to operate properly, the cowling surrounding the engine and its components needs to be relatively wide in order to accommodate the muffler.
The muffler also defines a fairly large volume in order to reduce the noise generated by the engine, and includes a complex system of baffles, chambers and noise absorbing materials, all of which result in a relatively heavy muffler. By placing the muffler laterally to the right of the longitudinal centerline of the snowmobile, the muffler generates a moment of inertia about the longitudinal centerline of the snowmobile which can have an adverse effect on the handling characteristics of the snowmobile.
In order to address this issue, in some snowmobiles, the muffler has been positioned completely in front of the engine compartment. In some snowmobiles having a four-stroke engine, the muffler has also been positioned at a rear of the tunnel. While these positions of the muffler have a better lateral distribution of the weight of the muffler about the longitudinal centerline of the snowmobile, the muffler is then completely in front of or behind the center of gravity of the snowmobile, thus increasing the moment of inertia about a lateral axis passing through the center of gravity, which can also have an adverse effect on the handling characteristics of the snowmobile.
Therefore, there is a need for a snowmobile having a muffler positioned so as to reduce moments of inertia resulting from the weight of the muffler.